Bankruptcy
by Chester Cronus
Summary: What will happen if you donate all the money for the reconstruction of Luin?
1. Chapter 1

This Chapter 1. I hope to be working on Chapter 2 soon....

Anyways, comments are much appreciated! Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, the characters, and story in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

**Bankruptcy**

"Lloyd, you idiot!" cried Genis

"Wha-what?!" spoke Lloyd, surprised.

"Why did you donate ALL our gald for the reconstruction of Luin??" shouted Genis, fuming.

"I did?" said Lloyd, looking puzzled.

"You mean you didn't notice?" cried Sheena, who looked incredulously at Lloyd, "Man, and here I thought that they were exaggerating when they said you're stupid."

"I-I…well…isn't it good to help those people out..?" Lloyd stammered, "I mean, c'mon! We're helping them rebuild their homes, isn't that what world regeneration is all about? Helping oth—?"

"Yes, but did you have to give every cent that we owned?" criticized Regal.

"Regal is right, Lloyd. You need to learn to economized," instructed Raine

"I-I…" Lloyd stuttered, at a loss for words. Looking around, he turned to the only one who could possibly offer him support.

"Colette!" Lloyd voiced anxiously, "We did the right thing right? Donating the money?" He waited with baited breath for Colette's answer.

_Please say yes! Please! _He thought.

"Well…" Colette started. She understood Lloyd's sincerity, but was concerned about the groups future financial well-being as well, "You did…okay…I guess. But you could have…ummm…cut back a bit…"

"She meant that you were tactless," interpreted Presea.

"N-n-no!" amended Colette, upon seeing Lloyd's dejected look, "It was very sweet and noble of you…" Her voice trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Lloyd, don't pick on Colette," said Genis, "She's too nice." At this Colette turned bright red.

"You shuddap," Lloyd smoldered, hitting Genis on the head. He turned to face everyone.

"We did the right thing alright?" he said with big hand gestures as if trying to make a point.

There was slight uncomfortable silence as everyone shuffled nervously on their feet. Nobody wanted to meet Lloyd's eye.

"Umm, Lloyd? What will we do for food?" Colette inquired timidly, finally breaking the silence.

"We can hunt," answered Lloyd.

"And new equipments?" Sheena added.

"Our current ones are good enough," countered Lloyd

"What about gels?" piped Genis

"I thought you hate gels."

"Shelter?" Regal put in.

"Camp"

"Aww, and here I though we could spend a night at Altamira resort for the night," whined Zelos.

"WELL TOO BAD!" seethe Lloyd

"I don't blame you, Lloyd. At least not as much as I blame myself for not teaching you properly," sighed Raine miserably, "I'm a failure as a teacher…"

Nobody talked much to Lloyd afterwards. Except occasional reproachful glances at him, Lloyd was mostly ignored.

"Aww. Everyone, we can get the money back," Lloyd reasoned, struggling to remain on speaking terms with everyone, "Just do some battling here and there and—."

"We spent a long time 'battling here and there' to save up our gald," Sheena interrupted.

"And here you go spending without asking," Zelos joined in.

"Then why didn't you guys stop me!" shouted Lloyd, "Since you guys are obviously such penny-pinchers, why didn't you stop me when I handed the money over."

"Well, Lloyd," Raine replied, "We didn't realize that until we left Luin and checked our bags."

Lloyd was speechless.

"In other words we trusted you…" Regal said, shaking his head, "We thought you could handle such small matters by yourself. But—."

"It appears that we've been wrong," Sheena finished.

"How could you, Lloyd…" Presea murmured.

"Don't expect us to be picking up after you all the time Lloyd," Genis asserted.

_Dammit!_ Lloyd swore silently.


	2. Chapter 2

**On to Meltokio**

Ah! I finished Chapter 2 faster than I thought. Anyways enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, the characters, and story in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

As the night arrived, the group began to set-up camp. Much to everyone's dismay, their food bag was nearly empty and consequently everybody ended up with half-filled stomach.

It was when everyone was settled around the poorly made camp fire (for nobody was quite in the mood to feed the fire) that Lloyd called to everyone's attention.

"Umm," he grimaced, unsure of what to say, "I'm sorry for well…what happened today."

Silence.

"But it's ok," he smiled, "I got an idea." He grinned openly, like a schoolboy who had just solved a particularly difficult math problem.

"Don't worry about it Lloyd, it's too late anyways," Raine said, "We'll think of something." The rest of the people nodded in agreement. As easily as they were to be anger they were quick to forgive.

"No, no!" Lloyd elaborated, "I really _do_ have a plan. Let's go to Meltokio tomorrow and I promise I can replace the money I lost."

"You're right!" Genis piped up and turned to Zelos, "Aren't you the Chosen?"

"Well done Genis. How long did you take to figure that out?" Zelos retorted sarcastically.

"Then you can fund us! You must be rich, being the second most important person in the Tethe'alla." Genis exclaimed.

"What?" Zelos said, surprised. Then squinting at Genis he said, "No! No way! I got my money saved for something else! Keep your scrawny paws off them."

"Fine cheapskate," Genis grumbled, pouting.

"WHAT?" Zelos roar so loudly that people beside him jumped.

"For your information I've got big plans for them." Zelos eyed Genis up and down, "Far bigger than your puny little brain can imagine."

"You—," Genis began, but was interrupted by Raine, who smack him on the back of his head.

"I didn't remember raising you to become a beggar, Genis," she scolded sternly.

"But Sis—."

"Not buts," Raine drilled harshly, "Now you will do well to remember that or else it'll be more than a smack on your head." Genis, unable to retort, sulk disparagingly away, his mouth muttering something inaudible.

"So what are you planning to do with your savings?" Sheena asked Zelos out of curiosity.

"I plan to spend them with my hunnies," shouted Zelos gleefully, "We'll buy all sort of nice stuff and then at night we'll—."

"Psh, yeah right," Genis dismissed, "I bet you never spent a cent of it. I overheard your 'hunnies' arguing on who to pay for your dinner bills last time at Meltokio."

"I-I…" Zelos flustered, but became indignant almost at once, "It's true!! I did save up for them. There's some for Hunny #1, Hunny #2, Hunny #3…" He began going over the list in his head. He tallied with his face screw tight, like a child who had too many toys to account for.

"And you never bother remembering their names," Sheena snorted, "Some dedication, well, not that I expect you to have any."

"Don't worry, I didn't forget you," Zelos turned towards Sheena, his face stretched into a broad grin, "You're Hunny #13, the most unlucky and violent of them all!"

There was a smack then a small explosion as Sheena used her pyre seal to blow Zelos away.

"Who want to be _your_ hunny?" she shrieked, staring menacingly at the now cowering Zelos, "Screw your head back properly you idiot Chosen." With that, she turned swiftly on her heels, and stormed away, her pink ribbon whipping past gracefully.

"See? That's why she's Hunny #13," Zelos whispered to Lloyd, who by now was the only one listening (the others had already dispersed upon turning bored at Zelos's list), "She's _violent_."

* * *

Despite the initial complaints ("It's too far," Genis cried), the group decided to make their way to Meltokio, although each member had their own intentions. Zelos obviously wanted to reunite with his many lovers. Sheena needed to visit the Elemental Research Laboratory to report on Corrine's death. Genis want to go to the Meltokio library again.

"You know that time when we found that book written in ancient elven text?" Genis spoke excitedly, "I gonna get Raine to teach me."

Raine was naturally delighted.

"Excellent choice, Genis," she smiled, "But I would rather visit the Temple of Earth. There are still some parts of it that we haven't yet explored. We must excavate the place at once." She had a maniacal grin on her face. Her light blue eyes were suddenly large and dilated as she began laughing to herself.

"C'mon, let's leave her alone for a while," Genis ushered everyone away, his face turning red.

"Muhahaha. Marvelous. Ohhh, I can't wait," Raine squealed in anticipation and delight.

As for Regal, he felt compelled to visit a friend he met in prison.

"To get some new techniques," he muttered absentmindedly.

The only person who had no plan was Presea, who remained passive, carving a new wooden charm that resembled an oddly shaped cat.

"What are you making?" Lloyd asked her, intrigued.

"It's a charm to attract money," answered Presea calmly, not taking her eyes off her work.

"I see…"

"I'll make one that helps improve intelligence later," Presea informed him monotonously.

* * *

Meltokio was, as usual, in its full state of grandeur. The high entrance archway looms over the group and the castle beyond tower over them. Nearby, wandering bards played cheerful melodies. They tipped their hats as passersby paused to drop a few coins.

"Now everyone," Lloyd said as he stopped the group at the entrance, "Just follow me, I've got a great idea."

Zelos groaned, "Oh, not now. I'm just getting ready to meet my cute darlings. Can't you wait?"

"Just what sort of plan do you have in mind," Genis eyed Lloyd suspiciously, "Getting us bankrupt was bad enough." This statement was followed by a mummer of agreement.

"Let's give Lloyd a chance," Colette urged the rest, "I'm sure it'll work out…" But her voice trailed off as she caught sight of something furry between her legs.

"Eek, it's a DOG," she squealed jubilantly, bending down to pat the animal, "Aww, you're so cute and furry. I think I'll call you Fluffy."

"Looks like you just lost your only ally," Genis comment to Lloyd.

"Shuddap and follow me," grumbled Lloyd, who began marching up the wide stairs ahead towards the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

I haven't played Tales of Eternia, so I might have the personalities of the Eternia characters wrong. But enjoy anyways. Comments are much appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Eternia, the characters, and story in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

**Coliseum**

"This is your plan?" Raine sounded doubtful as the team approached the coliseum after climbing the long set of stairs, "To battle for our money?"

"Sure it is," grinned Lloyd, "We'll make loads." He approached the lady dressed in purple at the counter.

"Welcome!" she said enthusiastically, "This is the registration desk for Team Battles. How may I help you?"

"I would like to enter the competition," Lloyd said simply.

"Very well," the lady smiled, "By the way, Meltokio is currently hosting an International Team Championship. The winning team shall receive one million gald. Would you be interested in that?"

Lloyd stumbled backwards.

"One million?!" He gasped, "Can I enter that instead then?"

"Certainly. Now, I just need the name of the two others who will be battling with you," the lady flashed a dazzling smile at Zelos upon noticing the chosen, "Oh! And your team names as well."

"Hmmm, who to choose…?" Lloyd examined the rest of his group.

"Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!" Genis shouted, "I'll battle with you! I want to try out my newly acquired spell: Meteor Storm!"

"And me too!" Sheena said, "I want to test out the new weapon that I obtained from Kuchinawa."

"Hmmm…" Lloyd scanned his group, "I think I'll have Raine and Zelos with me."

"WHAT?" all four of them shouted.

"Why don't you pick them?" Zelos cried, pointing at Genis and Sheena, "I want to visit my hunnies!"

"And I want to take the chance to excavate the Temple of Earth nearby," Raine noted sharply.

"Well…" Lloyd scratched his head, "This International Team…thing…sounds pretty hard right? So we'll need all the healing we can get right?"

"Ahhem," the receptionist was getting impatient, "Team name please."

"Oh right, I forgot," Lloyd said quickly, "How about… Team Symphonia?" He grinned broadly. The lady did not return the smile.

"What kind of name is that," Sheena said.

"Lame," replied Genis.

"Team Symphonia it is." the receptionist said quickly before more discrepancies could arise, "Your entrance fee please." She held out her hand.

"Entrance fee…?" Lloyd looked confused. The lady nodded.

"Look!" Lloyd dropped his voice so that rest of the team couldn't hear him, "The thing is that…well…we don't have a cent on us, can't we pay you after we win?"

"That's _if _you win," the lady spoke savagely upon hearing that Lloyd couldn't pay, "Please don't waste my time." She gestured at them to leave.

"WAIT!" Lloyd practically shouted into the receptionist out of nervousness. Then he lowered his voice once more.

"Tell you what. Our chosen here," he gestured towards the confused looking Zelos, "Will go on a date with you if we lose. How's that?"

"Ah!" the lady turned a deep shade of pink as she giggled excitedly at the thought of spending a day with the chosen, "Oh alright! But remember that you promised!!" She giggled some more.

"It's a deal then," Lloyd said, feeling that he had just got himself into another mess.

* * *

"AAAND IN THE LEFT WE HAVE TEAM SYMPHONIA: LLOYD, RAINE, AND ZELOS VERSUS," the commentator for the coliseum battle gestured towards his right, "TEAM ETERNIA: GARR, MEREDY, AND FARAH!!"

The crowd erupted into loud cheers as two opposing teams emerged onto the field.

"AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!!"

"Lloyd!" Raine whispered urgently, pointing at Meredy with her staff as she began to cast, "Get rid of the spell caster!"

"Got it," Lloyd answered swiftly, and shouted "Psi Tempest." He spiral forward in a great arc, landing right in front of the opposing mage.

"Sword Rain," he cried as he unleashed barges thrusts on Meredy. But he was too late.

"Acid Rain!" she cried before she doubled over from the pain.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Lloyd as he felt his strength drained from his legs. Meanwhile, Meredy had begun casting for another spell, the glyph below her shone icy blue.

"Hyah!" Lloyd charged forward, determined to stop the enemy mage, but just as he was about to strike, Farah immerged suddenly out of nowhere.

"Beast" she cried as she attempted to blast Lloyd away from her comrade. She missed. But oddly enough, Lloyd flew across the entire field and collided with a thud against the coliseum wall.

High above, the rest of the team was sitting in the spectator box, watching the fight.

"Hahaha, great Demon Seal, Sheena!" Genis applauded. Sheena blushed slightly

"Thanks," she muttered.

Meanwhile, Zelos was locked in combat with Garr.

"Demon Fang!" Zelos cried as he followed up with, "Hurricane Thrust, Super Lightning Blade!" But he missed, for Garr had, by instinct, jumped backwards. Unfortunately for Garr, he was much too near Meredy when he jumped, causing all of Zelos's attacks to land on the purple hair mage instead.

"Ow!" she cried, as a blue bolt descended on her, causing her to lose concentration, "Garr, you big idiot!" She restarted her chant, this time the glyph below her shining brilliantly white.

"Wild Rain!" Garr shouted, switching to his bow and unleashing a barge of arrows over the entire field, pretending that he hadn't noticed Meredy's complaints.

"Barrier!" Raine cried instantly as crystal shield encased her allies, rendering the arrows useless.

Lloyd charges forward to face Farah.

"Sword Rain!" he initiated before Farah could react, "Tiger Rage! Raining Tiger Blade!" Farah Oster stumbled backwards by shear amount of slashes, her hands clutching at the wound on her waist.

"Is that any way to treat a lady?!" she shouted indignantly at Lloyd, "You—." But before she could finish Raine cried out!

"Ray!"

Thick columns of lights blasted out at a single spot in the sky, striking Farah directly in the stomach, causing her to fall on her back.

"Sorry, but my friends will kill me if I lose," Lloyd mumbled a slight apology as he thrust his sword towards the momentarily stunned Farah and shouted "Hurricane Thrust!" Farah slumped sideways in a heap, out cold.

"Perish!" Meredy cried, "Meteor Storm!" The sky darkened at gigantic red fire balls crashed on to the field.

"Guardian!" Lloyd shouted as he attempted to shield himself with a large green bubble. However, he was too late for just as the bubble was about to appear, a meteor descended right on top of him.

There was a huge explosion as Lloyd flew fifty feet into the air and crashed with a deafening crack. His head looped sideways, no longer conscious.

At the top, watching the fight, Regal furrowed his eyebrows.

"There seem to be too many meteors in that spell…" he muttered seriously. Beside him, however, Genis and Sheena were crackling evilly.

"Good one!" Sheena whispered to Genis who was holding his kedama, "Double Meteor Storm, who would have thought? Hahaha."

Down below, Zelos was muttering angrily.

"That idiot!" Zelos fumed. He and Raine were miraculously unhurt. In fact, they hadn't received any damage at all yet.

"Indeed," replied Raine, "Getting killed this early in a battle, what a disgrace…"

"Don't bother reviving him, we don't need him," Zelos huffed.

"Watch how the pros do it bumpkin," Zelos smirked at the unconscious Lloyd. And with that he rushed right toward the two enemies on the field. Golden wings shot suddenly from his back, enveloping him in a white golden light.

"SHINY BIND!" he shouted just as Meredy was about to cast resurrection on Farah.

Blinding waves of light passed through the two enemies, shooting them upwards and, knocking them across the arena in two opposite directions. Both stood up quickly and began to cast. Ironically, Raine and Zelos began to do just the same.

"God's Breath!" Garr cried as the sky darkened once more. Sound of rushing wind scratches roughly around the contestants' ear, converging into a single point. Then almost instantly a heavy column of wind shot straight down at Zelos, pounding him into the ground.

"Ack!" Zelos shouted in pain, but instead of covering his head as normally people would, he covered his face instead, "Please don't cut my beautiful face!"

Up above, Genis and Sheena watched with beguiled amusement.

"Haha," Genis doubled over with laughter, "What an idiot!"

"I love you Garr!" Sheena shouted, "Cut his face some more!"

"I don't want to look…" Colette covered her eyes.

Persia remained passive, her blue eyes taking everything in silently.

"Sacred Shine!" Raine suddenly cried out. Chains of light surrounded the enemies and collapsed in on them. Meredy's spell circle suddenly evaporated as she fell on to the ground. She didn't get up.

Garr apparently however, still has strength left.

"You…are…going…down…" he gasped between breaths of air.

"Let's finish Zelos off," Genis whispered to Sheena high up in the spectator box, "Raine can win the battle by herself."

"Sure," Sheena grinned merrily, "Cyclone Seal!"

However, Regal had spotted her.

"Sheena! What are you doing?!" he said as he grabbed her arm, causing her attack to veer off-course. It hit Raine instead, sending her flying into the air.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY SISTER?!" Genis screamed, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT! INDIGNATION!"

A gigantic bolt of blue lightning descended near Genis. Fortunately, Sheena dodged just in time, thus unhurt. But the bolt hit floor of the spectator box instead. There was a rumbling sound as the box began to crumble.

"RUN!!" Regal shouted as everyone quickly boarded their Rheairds and zoomed into the sky. Luckily, no one other than the team was in that box and thus none of the other spectators were injured. The same, however, could not be said for Garr, who was right beneath the now falling box.

CRASH!

The box landed harshly on Garr, burying him in a pile of bricks. Amazing, he still retained consciousness as he struggle to push the rock off him. But alas, his strength left him and he slump onto the ground, unconscious.

"AAAAND THE WINNER IS TEAM SYMPHONIA!!" the commentator shouted into his microphone. "CONGRADUATIONS AND THANK YOU FOR THIS AWESOME BATTLE!! TEAM SYMPHONIA SHALL ADVANCE TO THE NEXT STAGE!!!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it took a while to update. Exams were just flooding my time.

Anyways, here's the 4th Chapter. Enjoy!

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Abyss, the characters, and story in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

**Perfidy and Peepers**

"I can't believe it!" Raine shrieked, when Regal told her what had happened, "How dare you intentionally sabotage our match!" She screamed so hysterically that Genis and Sheena had to cover their ears.

The team had gathered in a break room prepared especially for the contestants of the International Team Championship (ITC). Each team had their own designated break room/inn room. Unlike the ordinary coliseum battles in which the participants received no breaks, the ITC was deemed far too advance and thus allowed its contestants rest in between battles.

"Well! You know what that means," Raine sighed as she approached Genis, who looked helplessly around, "I'm sorry, but it's for your own good!"

"N-no!" Genis begged as he tried to run away but failed. Raine caught him by the scruff of Genis neck and tossed him over one arm with an air of a practiced discipliner. She raised her hand over Genis's bottom.

SMACK!

Her hand shot straight down. Genis yelped in pain, but Raine showed more mercy. In fact her face became more livid by the second. She raised her hand again, this time, bringing it down with even greater force.

SMACK!

The rest of the group watched appalled at the sight, their mouth hanging open. Nobody wanted to interfere in case Raine rounded on them. Nearby, Colette was applying a life bottle to Lloyd. Her face was screwed up in concentration, as if trying to block out Genis's sobs and tears.

"Now," Raine breathed slowly after delivering ten ear splitting beatings, "Sheena, it's your turn now." She released Genis, who, red faced, immediately scuttled away to the nearest corner, his hand rubbing his bottom.

"M-me?!" Sheena stammered, "You can't possibly…!"

"Why not?" Raine didn't seem to care.

"But I'm an adult!" Sheena shouted indignantly.

"So?" Raine advanced.

"Go away, y-you witch," Sheena backed away, "S-stay back!"

Raine pounced.

"Gotcha!" Raine grinned savagely. But Sheena suddenly vaporized into a puff of grey smoke and appeared on the far other side of the room.

"It'll take you a hundred years more to catch _me_," Sheena smirked. However, her smile faded as Raine, unwilling to give up, charged headlong into her. The two tumbled over, rolling on the floor, trying to pin each other down.

Amidst the pandemonium, one member was missing.

"Zelos, what are you doing?" Lloyd asked. Zelos was bent over beside Lloyd, his eyes paste directly onto a hole on wall.

"Look Lloyd!" He said whispered excitedly so only Lloyd could hear, "She's changing!"

"What?"

"Changing!" Zelos explained exasperatedly, "As in taking cloth off then—."

"Zelos!!" Lloyd was unimpressed, "St—."

"Here! Take a look," Zelos stood up, and smashed Lloyd's head against the peephole.

A lady with light brown hair came into view. She had taken off her outer clothing and was in the process of putting on new ones. Her long hair cascaded down to her waist. As she turned, Lloyd saw that she had bright green eyes.

"AHH!" the lady screamed. She had spotted Lloyd's eye. Lloyd tried to pull back, but he was too late. He was already found out.

"Man, you really suck at this dontcha?" Zelos sighed.

"WHAT!" Lloyd exploded on Zelos, "It was _you_—."

But whatever he had wanted to say was interrupted by an even louder shriek.

"WHO!? WHO WAS THAT?!" It was the lady from the room beside them, now fully clothed. She had flung open the unlocked room's door, her face a mixture of anger and embarrassement. A girl with pig tails was beside her.

"WHO WAS IT!?" This time the girl scream, if not louder, "WHO WAS THAT DISGUSTING PEEPING TOM!"

The Symphonia team stared, a look of shock written on their face. And slowly their gaze centered on Zelos.

"Zelos…" Raine said disapprovingly, forgetting her scuffle with Sheena.

"No-no! Don't look at me, it was Lloyd!" Zelos clarified, "Right?" He nudges Lloyd on the shoulder.

"WHAT! Zelos…but you…" Lloyd was at a loss for words.

"Now, now, you mustn't lie," Zelos said slyly, "Remember dwarven vow #11? Lying—."

"I know that, but it was…" Again, Lloyd couldn't manage formulate his speech.

"SO IT WAS YOU HUH?!" The girl at the doorway advanced. She took out a poorly made doll.

"WE'LL SEE WHO'S PEEPING AFTER THIS!" She exclaimed.

"No, Anise," the brown hair girl said suddenly, blushing even harder, "You must not! We're not allowed to engage in battle outside of arena, or we'll be disqualified!"

"But Tear! They," Anise tried to object, but Tears stared her down.

"Fine!" Anise pouted.

Lloyd and Zelos relaxed.

"But don't think we forget this! See you in the next match Symphonia," Anise spat vehemently as she and Tear turned on their heels and left.

"Lloyd…" Presea, who was rather silent until now spoke, "She's dangerous."


	5. Chapter 5

Hmmm. I realized that Tales of Abyss has many "interesting" moves and techniques that I didn't include in this story. If you guys want to see more of Tales of Abyss moves in the story, tell me, and I'll see what I can do (but no promises =P).

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Abyss, the characters, and story in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

**Symphonic Abyss**

"WELCOME TO THE SECOND ROUND! ON THE LEFT WE HAVE TEAM SYMPHONIA: LLOYD, ZELOS, AAAND RAINE," the commentator exclaimed.

Out walked the trio into the applauding stadium. However, the team's spirit was rather dampened. Raine eyed menacingly up at the spectator box where Sheena and Genis were sitting while Lloyd hung his head. One hand was press on his cheek where a red mark of a hand was still glowing brightly. The only person who seemed unperturbed was Zelos.

"C'mon guys," Zelos coaxed, "Cheer up. Just look at all the hunnies waiting to see me win!" Raine and Lloyd ignored him, but Zelos continued.

"After I win, I take them on a date. And at night we'll check in at the hotel to…" Zelos trailed off, lost in his own fantasy world.

"VERSUS" the commentator had begun again, "TEAM ABYSS: LUKE, GUY, AAAND TEAR."

Three people walked out towards the arena. Lloyd automatically realized that one of the opponents. The woman with the long brown hair and green eyes, Tear, was holding her arms rather awkwardly, as if she rather not be seen.

"Hey, ummm…Tear right?" Lloyd approached her, trying to make amends, "Listen—." But he was immediately interrupted by guy standing beside the girl. He had messy red hair that seemed to be quite poorly cut.

"So you guys are the peeping toms," He huffed angrily, "I heard it all from Anise. We're going to teach you a lesson. Right Guy?" He motioned to a gold hair man beside him who only shook his head.

"Calm down Luke," Guy replied, still shaking his head, "You'll lose if you let your emotions get the better of you."

"H-hey…" Lloyd tried to make conversation again, but just then the commentator announced,

"LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!!!"

"ARAHH," without warning Luke rushed forward, uttering his battle cry.

"Fang Blade Havoc," Luke shouted when he reached Lloyd, who jumped out of the way.

"Swallow Fury," Luke didn't let up. This time Lloyd wasn't so lucky. He was pushed into the air along with multiple of slashes.

"Air Thrust!" Zelos cried a few feet from where Lloyd is. A bright green glyph shone violently beneath him. Blades of air cut across Luke, who caught off guard, screamed in pain and shock.

"Sword Rain!" cried Lloyd taking the chance to strike. Luke doubled over from the multiple cuts, but managed to remain standing.

"Twin Tiger Blade," Lloyd continued, but was interrupted. Guy had rushed out of nowhere from his right.

"Demonic Void," Guy cried, striking Lloyd across his chest

"Light Spear," Luke followed up in what seemed like a pirouette. Lloyd was pushed into the air once more by Luke's slashes and landed hardly on his back.

"Haha I got him!" Luke cried excitedly, turning to Tear who was casting behind him, "Look! Tear, I got him!"

"Luke! Watch out!" Tear cried. But her warning came too late.

"Demon Fang! Fierce Demon Fang! Super Lightning Blade!" Zelos suddenly immerged, dealing heavy damage on the surprised enemy. Luke was pushed back a few feet and crumpled onto his knees, panting.

"Luke!" Guy, distracted, cried worriedly. His distraction however cost him greatly for Zelos, without hesitation, rushed forward.

"Light Spear Cannon!" Zelos cried. Guy was spun into the air. High up he flew, and just as he was about to fall, Zelos stuck his sword up savagely with a smirk. There was a sickening splat as sword pierced right through the falling Guy's stomach.

"Gah!" Guy tumbled over onto the ground.

"Yahoo! The sexy Zelos does it again!" Zelos congratulated himself. Then to Guy he consoled, "No hard feelings. It's just I'm destined to win. You look pretty good, it's just I'm more handsome, that's all."

"What the heck are you talking about!" Guy exclaimed and jumped up

"CENTER!!" Guy cried. The wounds on his stomach healed somewhat and he rushed forward.

"No fair!" whined Zelos, "I can't heal instantly like that!!!"

"Prepare yourself!" Guy cried, "BRILLANT OVERLOAD!!" Blinding waves of bluish white light erupted from his sword and flew right at Zelos.

"SHINY BIND!" cried Zelos desperately to repel his foe, but it was no use, the attack was too powerful. Waves of light struck him right in the stomach, rendering him immobile.

"FALCON CREST!!!" Lloyd had entered the fray, his Eternal Sword raised, attempting to interrupt Guy.

"Oh no you don't!" Luke cried, "LOST FON DRIVE." Blast of light exploded from Luke's concentrated hand, colliding with Lloyd's sword. The convergence of the four attacks was too great of a force and all four of them were blown scattered across the arena in four different direction.

Not one of them managed to retain consciousness.

The only ones left standing now were Raine and Tear, both oddly enough, hadn't made a single move yet.

"Arugh," muttered the frustrated Tear, "What's wrong with me?" White light appeared below her—the glyphs of a healing spell. But like vapor, it managed to fade away every time Tear started to chant.

Similar problems were happening as well on Team Symphonia's side

"This defies all logic," exclaimed Raine exasperately as she attempted to cast Resurrection but failed, "What's wrong with this staff?" She banged her crystal staff on the ground in irritation. Unlike Tear, Raine was more apt to blame her own weapon rather than her own lack of skills.

Up in the spectator box, Genis and Anise were looking daggers at each other. (They had to share the box because Genis had destroyed the previous one.)

"What did you do to Raine?" Genis eyed Anise suspiciously.

"Nothing," Anise replied nonchalantly. But Genis sensed deceit

"Liar!" he insisted, "What is your scheming little brain up to?!"

"You can't prove anything," Anise stuck her tongue out, "Besides, what did you do to _Tear_? Huh?"

"I did nothing!" Genis spoke, but he answered a little too quickly for Anise suddenly sprang upright.

"YOU DID TOO!" Anise flared, "You cursed Tear didn't you? As master guardian, I can spot a curse from miles away!" She hoisted herself up, seemingly rather proud of her skills.

"AND YOU!!" Genis flushed hotly, "Sealed up my sister's mana didn't you? It's simply not possible for a half-elf to radiate that little amount of mana! I can sense it!"

"Y-you animal," Anise exclaimed, surprised that her plan was discovered so easily, "You only rely on instinct don't you? Sensing mana, what rubbish! I already sealed everything away with the Fon slot seal." [Fon slot seal was used in Tales of Abyss by the enemy to seal away Jade's Fonic Artes]

"WHAT?" Genis screamed back, "Some guardian you are! You didn't even notice the Dark Seal on put on your friend back in the break room." [Dark Seal is an item that gives the wearer 50% more experience points but causes curse status]

"AHHA," Anise cried triumphantly, "So you admit cursing Tear!"

"SO DID YOU!" Genis retaliated.

For a moment, neither one said anything but glared into each other's eyes.

"I don't care!" Anise said flatly, "Tear's going to win this and I'm going to help her."

"Miracle Hammer!" she announced, aiming at Raine. A huge yellow hammer materialized on the battle field directly on top of Raine.

"Freeze Lancer!" Genis cried just in time. Piece of ice flew towards the hammer, shattering the hammer upon impact.

"YOU!" Anise was furious, "Limited!" This time, directing her attack at Genis who shouted,

"Absolute!"

A pillar light cascaded down on Genis just as bright blue ice encircled and converged on Anise.

"Tear…will…win!" Anise panted after recovering from the blow.

"Not…before I strike…her down first," Genis threatened, equally stunned.

"YOU WILL NOT!" shrieked Anise

"Watch me! INDIGNATION JUDGMENT!" The sky darkened as lightning began to gather above Tear down at the arena.

"FINAL FURY!" cried Anise, throwing her puppet over the box at Raine. The puppet began to enlarge, drawing its claws.

"Stop it you big idiot!" Genis shouted, attempting to land a hit on Anise with his kendama. Anise, now devoid of her weapon, lunged at Genis, attempting to knock the kendama away. In the midst of the scuffle however a voice suddenly rang over the stadium.

"Explode!" the oversized puppet, still in midair, suddenly burst apart. Its piece scorched and scattered in all directions.

"Tokunaga doll!!" Anise exclaimed.

Genis's Indignation Judgment however, was not impeded. Bolts of lightning struck the struggling Tear with an ending _coup de grace_ as a gigantic sword plummeted down. Tear, overwhelmed, fell down, unconscious.

"AND LADIES AND GENTS, TEAM SYMPHONIA WINS!!" the commentator lauded, "WHAT A SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE THIS IS!"

"WHO THE HELL?" Anise shouted, tear-stricken at the loss of her doll, yet infuriated by the defeat of her team, "HOW DARE THAT LITTLE RUNT!" She searched the sky and spectator wildly, determined to find the culprit.

Genis however, guided by his ability to sense mana, immediately pinpointed who it was. In the distance, a pink hair girl zoomed quietly and stealthily away on her broom.


	6. Chapter 6

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Abyss, Tales of VS, and Tales of Phantasia, the characters, story, and everything about them in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

**The Creation versus the Wrath of Lightning**

_Another half-elf!_ Genis thought, his mind racing. _That pink hair girl! She must be! I got to find her! _Genis jumped to his feet and raced out the stadium. Nobody stopped him, for everyone (beside Anise) was cheering at the spectacular lightning finale. Genis ran out to the break room, his mind still trying to pinpoint the pink hair half-elf's mana. But it was no use. The girl had finished casting, and was, therefore, no longer emitting anymore mana. But Genis had a hunch where the mysterious half-elf would be. He sprinted to Team Symphonia's resting room. There, a girl with a pink bushy ponytail was leaning against the door, looking thoroughly impatient.

"Took you long enough," the girl replied when she saw Genis, "Geez, why's everyone so slow?" Genis ignored her comment. And before he could help himself, he blurted out,

"Who are you?"

The girl smiled, tiling her head to get a better look at Genis. She had a large blue earring on her left ear that swung dangerously as if threateningly to fall.

"Arche," she smiled mischievously, "Arche Klein. I know who you are! Genis right? How's your bottom? Does it still hurt?"

"H-How?!" Genis was baffled that anyone besides the Symphonia team knew of his latest punishment.

"Oh, just a hunch," Arche replied innocently.

_How does she know! _Genis thought to himself frantically _I wonder what else she knows…Could she be part of the Desians? No, that's impossible! We destroyed all their bases…but…_

"Tell me! How long have you been spying on us?!" Genis said steely, his face turning red. But Arche gave no answer. Instead, she looked at Genis and giggled.

"Fine! We'll try another answer," Genis said, "Where are you from?"

"Sorry, can't tell you that either," Arche replied nonchalantly, "Besides, you wouldn't know if I tell you." At this she began to walk away, yawning.

"Hey wait! I'm not done talking yet!" Genis called after her, his body tense. But Arche ignored him. In the last ditched attempt to get some answer, Genis hollered after the pink hair witch the question he had been dying to ask.

"Are you with Yggdrasil?!"

Arche turned, a puzzled expression written on her face.

"With?" she repeated, her eyes looking upwards contemplating to herself, "Well…that's an odd way of wording it, but yeah I guess. Who isn't?" She got on her broom and began to leave.

"FIRE BALL!" Genis cried. Balls of flames flew at Arche, who just barely dodge them.

"HEY!" Arche cried angrily, "What are you doing?! Watch it!"

"Sorry," Genis answered, his expression cold, "But if you're with Yggdrasil, then I have to get rid of you."

"WHAT?!" Arche cried surprised, "Hey, I just help your team you know. Is that any way to treat your benefactor?"

"Humph!" Genis ignored her, "Cyclone!" Blades of air swirled around Arche, forming into a giant spiral.

"Why you ungrateful little brat!" Arche cried amidst the howling wind, "You want to play rough huh? Fine! Take this! Fire Storm!"

Swirling flames surrounded Genis. They licked against his skin, causing him to loose his focus on the cyclone spell.

"Aha! It'll take you a hundred years more to beat me!" Arche boosted, laughing as she landed on the ground, watching Genis struggle.

"Tidal Wave!" Genis cried suddenly, extinguishing the fire around him.

"Ah!" Arche, who had not expected Genis to get out of the dilemma so quickly, was swept along with the waves before she could mount her broom.

"Earthquake!" she cried when she had escaped into the air.

"Atlas!" Genis countered.

The ground shook and rocks tumbled over Genis while long blades of wind and water slashed against Arche, blowing her hither and thither.

"RAY!" she cried barely holding on to her broom. But her aim was way off due to the tumbling wind. Frustrated, she attempted to break through with a wind spell of her own.

"Tempest!" Arche's own wind spell managed to neutralize the air around her. But just then Genis raised his kendama.

"I'll burn that broom to ashes!" he cried, "Flame Lance!" A gigantic fiery lance descended on Arche who managed to get away. However, the force of the lance upon impact to the ground sent her rocketing down into the ground.

"This isn't over yet!" she spat. "Black Hole!" The ground between Genis and Arche gave away, revealing a gigantic bottomless hole. The wind picked up as the hole began sucking everything within its radius of gravity. Trees were uproot, stone were uplifted as they tumbled into the dark abyss.

"Hahaha!" Arche laughed manically, "That's what you get for messing with me!"

"Grrr..." Genis crouched down. _What should I do?! _He thought frantically as tears began flowing_ I don't want to die yet! _But just then, a thought struck him. _Wait a minute! That Black Hole is a dark magic. If I can neutralize it with the opposite affinity…_

"Prism Sword!" Genis exclaimed, hoping that he can overpower the dark abyss just inches away from him.

Swords of light descended, striking everything in sight.

"Ahhh," Arche cried as one of the swords narrowly missed her head. But Genis had reached his objective. The black hole had faded away.

"Haha!" he shouted, pointing at Arche, "In your face!"

Arche, apparently, was rather put out, which only succeeded in infuriating her even more.

"Humph! A child could have taken care of that!" she scoffed flying high up into the air, "But let see how you'll deal with this! Break him down into molecules! EXTENSION!"

The ground beneath Genis began decomposing. But Genis had just the right spell to protect himself.

"Force Field!" a green ball of light surrounded Genis, protecting him from harm.

"What! No fair," Arche complained, "I can't do that!"

"That's not all!" Genis continued, "Gravity Well!"

Arch was immediately pulled down due to the force of the added gravity. From high above she plummeted, her brown pointing straight down refusing to change direction.

"Maelstrom!" she cried as a whirlpool appeared below her. Evidently, she was trying to break her fall. This worked well, perhaps better than she had planned. The water not only cushioned her fall but also pulled Genis in as well.

"Ahh!" Genis cried amongst gulps of water as he spun faster and faster near the middle of the whirlpool, "EXPLOSION!"

An enormous ball of fire crashes down onto the ground, landing right in the middle of the whirlpool, evaporating the water.

"Aaand" Genis wasn't finished, "Raging Mist!" Burst of steam shot from the ground. But Arche was unfazed.

"Debris Fall!" she announced. Piles of rocks plunged onto the ground, dissipating the mist and steam.

"You're child-play ends here!" Arche smiled evilly, "God's Breath!" The sky darkened. And suddenly, a column of wind descended on top of Genis.

"Earth Bite!" he said. The ground around him suddenly sprang up and converged, forming a protective shell over Genis.

"That's won't hold you for long," Arche taunted, "Let's see…Ah! This should do the trick. Tractor Beam!" Light surrounded Genis, lifting him up the ground. Higher and higher he went.

"That's should be high enough," Arche muttered to herself. She brought her hand down and Genis plummeted down, accelerating as he got nearer and nearer to the ground.

"SPREAD!' he screamed. A column of water sprang up, breaking his fall.

"Thunder Arrow!" Genis bellowed as sphere of lightning formed around Arche. But Arche was ready.

"Distortion," she replied effortlessly as a hole opened in mid air, a rip in dimension. The sphere of lightning, before they could attack Arche, was immediately swallowed up.

"Wh-what!" Genis was surprised. He had never seen a spell like that.

"Scared? Give up," Arche smirked.

"No! Not to the likes of you!" Genis gritted his teeth, "I'll show you how my true power! INDIGNATION JUDGMENT!"

"Psh, that old trick," Arche dismissed, "It's powerful, I'll give you that, but you can't control it. You have a long way to go kid. Let me take you to the start of the creation, BIG BANG!"

Lightning converged around Arche as the sky darkened once more. But just a sword was about to fall on Arche, there was a blinding white flash along with a deafening rumble and Genis lay on the ground, unconscious.

"Yeepe! I won!" Arche pumped her fist into the air. Her Big Bang spell had managed to destroy the falling sword before it hit her. However, her joy was short-lived for rest of the Symphonia team, upon hearing the flashes and clamors of multicolor spell, had rushed to the break room.

"Who are you?" Lloyd cried.

"Uh-oh…" Arche said to herself. Although she was relatively confident of her strength, to take on 7 people all at once was simply suicide.

"Answer me! What did you do to Genis?" Lloyd demanded.

Arche didn't answer. She had got on her broom and was preparing to flee.

"Holy Lance!" Raine conjured. Spears of light materialized and flew through the air, knocking Arche to the ground.

"Answer," Raine replied coldly, "What happened to Genis?"

However, just then, in a sudden flash, a man appeared beside Arche.

"Arche!" the man replied. He was wearing white-silver plates of armor and a red headband, "We've been looking all over for you. What the heck are you doing?"

"Cless…I…them…" Arche pointed at the Symphonia group, who were still in shock at the man's entrance.

"Ah! That's right. Let's go," Cless said awkwardly.

"Hey! Wait, I'm not done—," Lloyd began. But Cless raised his sword.

"Eternal Sword, take us to where the rest of my friends are!" Cless said solemnly. And just as he had appeared, he and Arche vanished in a flash of light.

"W-What?" Raine exclaimed, "Was I mistaken, or did that man said Eternal Sword?"

"I don't know…" Lloyd said, stunned as well, "But his sword…it looked just like mine…"

Nobody else uttered a word. They were all as shock as Lloyd and Raine.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for not writing for so long. This is extremely busy month right now... Anyways, enjoy.

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Innocence, and Tales of Phantasia, the characters, stories, and everything about them in any way. They are property of Namco. All said, I do not own any Tales related stuff.

* * *

**The Unexpected Discovery**

"Just who the heck are they?!" Lloyd exclaimed. The team had retreated into their break room. In a corner, Raine was casting Resurrection on Genis. Her lips were moving silently, a look of concern displayed on her face.

"Beats me," answer Zelos nonchalantly. He was still embarrassed by his fall from grace in the previous battle.

"Grr…we need answers…" Lloyd growled. _Two Eternal Swords_, he thought, _that man is definitely holding the Eternal Sword. But how could that be possible_.

"Is there a possibility that either sword might be a fake?" Regal interrupted Lloyd's thoughts

"That's impossible!" Raine spoke up, "There's no way for Lloyd to use the Falcon Crest without the Eternal Sword. Similarly, the man could not have teleported without the aid of the sword as well."

"Want me to keep tabs on them?" Sheena offered, "I think they are in battle right now. Maybe I can observe them and gather more information."

"Good idea," Raine agreed, still healing the unconscious Genis, "I would like to know more about the person who beat my little brother this badly."

"Be careful Sheena," Colette spoke anxiously, "Do you want me to go with you?"

"Umm…N-no, it's fine," Sheena refused quickly. She still hadn't forgotten how Colette's clumsiness had made her fall into the mines at Ossa Trail.

"Are you sure?" Colette said, genuinely concerned.

"Y-yes," Sheena replied, "Ninja usually work alone on these missions anyways. It'll be easier for me if I go alone." She was evidently still haunted by the memories of her dark escapades.

"I suppose so…Alright…" Colette said, looking dejected.

* * *

Sheena arrived at the coliseum just in time to hear the commentator announced the coming battle

"AND IN THE RIGHT WE HAVE TEAM INNOCENCE: RUCA, IRIA, AAND SPADA VERSUS TEAM PHANTASIA: CLESS, MINT, AAND KLARTH!!!"

Mingle amongst the cheering crowd, Sheena managed to keep herself safely hidden as she spied on the competitors below in the arena.

Team Phantasia, Sheena observed, consisted of the guy with red headband she saw earlier (Cless), a cleric in white who reminded her of Colette (Mint), and man with a ridiculous big hat and tattoos (Klarth). Team Innocence, Sheena noted, was made up of a boy with an enormous sword on his back (Ruca), a red hair girl with two guns (Iria), and a green hair boy using double swords like Lloyd (Spada).

"AND LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE!" shouted the commentator enthusiastically.

Team Phantasia was the first to make the move as Cless rush forward with his sword.

_The Eternal Sword! It looked just like Lloyd's!_ Sheena thought.

"Chaos Blade," Cless shouted. Waves of light burst forth from Cless at the enemy.

"Aqua Laser," Iria from opposing team cast. Her spell collided with Cless's move and managed to dispel the attack. But Cless wasn't finished.

"Lightning Blade!" he continued his assault; ironically, his opponent had the exact idea in mind.

"Lightning Blade!" Spada announced. The two warriors collided in mid-air. Sparks of electricity flying as each attempted to push the other back.

"Pow Pow Hammer!" Mint shouted. A gigantic crimson hammer crashed on Spada, stunning him.

Cless took this chance to strike, "Rising Phoenix!" He rose into the air once more and descended towards the Ruca who was charging up a spell. Flames enveloped Cless's body as he reached closer and closer to the ground.

Too late.

"Meteor Storm!" Ruca cried as colossal balls of fire crashed onto the field. Cless was hit in midair by a particularly large incoming meteor, sending him flying backwards.

"Cless!" Mint cried, worried, "Nurse!" A green light appeared in the sky as beautiful angels dressed in white flew down to heal her team. [Note: This is Tales of Phantasia's version of Nurse]

"Humph," Iria scoffed, "That won't help you much. Take this! Ice Tornado!" Blue wind with ice swirled violently around Mint who could only bring her arms up to shield her face.

"Mint!" Cless shouted distracted.

"Yo! Your opponent's here. Keep your eyes on the battle!" Spada shouted. Taking advantage of Cless's sudden determent, Spada attacked.

"Sword Rain Tempest!" Spada charged forward, landing multiple of thrusts on Cless then twirling in midair, slashing the already fazed Cless across the chest.

"And I'm not done yet!" Spada cried. His body seemed to glow.

"Rule the world together!" Spada shouted.

The sky turned dark and Spada disappeared, only to be replaced by a gigantic red sword: Durandal. The sword swung wildly at Cless, faster and deadlier with each successive hit.

"Shinretsu Senkouzan [God Fissure Flash Light Slash]!" the sword cried out as it finished by slamming Cless into the area wall, which crumpled upon the force. Cless slumped in a heap, knocked out.

"No Cless!" Mint cried.

"Don't lose focus!" Klarth alerted Mint, "I summon thee…Pluto!"

A giant, grotesque, serpent head monster with many sets of arms immerged out of thin air: Pluto. Pluto waved its many arms as swarms of fireballs from hell emerged and began pelting at Team Innocence. Majority of the fireballs managed to strike Spada, who had just recovered from his Mystic Arte.

"Ahh!" Spada scream out of agony as the seemingly endless fireball cascaded on him. The fireballs pushed Spada onto the ground until finally, when Pluto had disappeared; Spada was sprawled out on the ground unconscious.

"Spada! No!" Iria cried, "Resurre—" Iris attempted to bring Spada back into consciousness, but was abruptly interrupted by Mint, who cried,

"Time Stop!"

Everything suddenly turned gray. And except for Team Phantasia and the spectators (who were too far away for the spell to take effect on), everyone was immobile—frozen in time.

"Perfect!" Klarth cried as he began another summon while Mint began charging up Resurrection to bring Cless back into battle.

"Resurrection!" Mint cried, a glimpse of relief on her face. The sky turned green once again as a golden hair angel descended. The angel opened her mouth and expelled a long stream of melody which brought Cless out of his slumber. [Note: this is Tales of Phantasia's version of Resurrection]

"Ohhhh…my head hurts…" Cless complained, rubbing his temples, "Feels like I've just woken from a drunken sex party…"

At this Mint turned bright red.

"Cless! Hurry!" Klarth cried who couldn't really care less what Cless did, having experienced much more, "Get that enemy mage/shooter!"

"Oh…umm right…" Cless mumbled, still dazed from having just woken up, "Ummm…what's that you said again?"

"Oh for god sake, you're no use!" Klarth said with a hint of urgency on his face, "We're in a middle of battle! Can't you see?"

"Wow! Everything's still. What happened here? Did a Snakeman turn up?" [Note: Snakemans are enemy monsters in Tales of Phantasia that can turn people into stone]

"You-Are-Useless! Have you been knocked in the head too hard?" Klarth exclaimed while Mint watched anxiously as her spell began to wear off, "I summon thee! Maxwell!"

There was a blinding flash of light as Maxwell appeared. Huge transparent bubbles materialized and shot towards the enemy.

"No! What are you guys doing?" Cless exclaimed jumping into the fray and slicing each bubble with his Eternal Sword, "How can you be attack when everyone's like this! This is not a fair battle!"

"The hell!" Klarth was really losing his temper.

"What?" Cless shouted indignantly.

"Mint!" Klarth turned abruptly to the cleric who currently was casting protective charms over and over, trying to prepare for the incoming assault when the Time Stop spell lifts.

"Yes?" she answered timidly.

"Knock Cless out," Klarth said coldly, his eyes drilling into Mint's as if threatening her to object.

"Ah…." Mint was taken aback at the thought of hurting her own teammates. But Klarth's stare looked so dangerous that she had no choice but to comply.

"Cless…I'm really sorry…" she said miserably, "Pow Pow Hammer!"

A gigantic hammer appeared above Cless's head. For a moment it hung in midair. Then without warning, it slammed straight down on Cless, who fainted immediately at impact.

"Glad that's taken care of," Klarth said nonchalantly and began another summon, "I summon thee! Aska!"

A magnificently bright bird appeared. At the moment it was summon, it instantly dived at the enemy spell caster.

However, just as Aska appeared, the Time Stop spell had wore off. Fortunately for Team Phantasia, Aska managed to strike Iria before she could resume her spell. Iria, surprised and unsure of what happened, stumbled back and passed out.

"NOO! IRIA!" Ruca cried, "HOW COULD YOU! ARGGGG! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!"

Ruca was glowing, as he prepared his ultimate move. The sky blackens.

"I will prove to you that I am the supreme ruler of the heavens!" Ruca cried as he transformed into a gigantic black horn demon: Asras

"Maou Shakumetsujin [Devil Miraculous Destroy Blade]!" Asras shouted, aiming his attack at Klarth

Unfortunately, in his rage, he missed and most of the attacks stuck Cless who was already unconscious.

"Ugh, I'm sure glad that wasn't me…" Klarth stared as Ruca (now Asras) set to mutilating the conscious Cless.

"Klarth! Help him!" Mint cried, desperately casting, "Barrier"

"Nah…" Klarth thought _If Cless dies here, then he won't compete for girls with me. Damn that Cless! He already got Mint and Arche. This is my chance! If he dies, the girls will fall for me! Muhahahahaha!_

Up in the stands, Sheena couldn't believe what she was seeing. It wasn't the gigantic Asras that got her so stricken with fear, but Klarth's summoning arts.

"My Maxwell…My Aska…" Sheena gasped, "How did he get them? That's simply not possible…"

"There are a lot of things that are not possible," a voice spoke silently behind Sheena. Sheena spun around on her heels, her spell cards in her hand. The voice belonged to a blue hair archer, who had already aimed his arrow at her head.

"You!" Sheena was shocked. _How did he get behind me?! I didn't even notice!_

"I will suggest you not to move…" This time a little girl's voice spoke. Sheena suddenly found cold, hard steel pressed against her throat.

"WH-What?" Sheena gasped.

"Yo-yo-yo," a pink hair witch on a broomstick zoom out of nowhere and approached the blue hair archer, "Ohhh, Chester, what did you catch? Hmm?" She smiled mischievously.

"Arche…" Chester said impatiently, "Can you end Cless's battle? We need to win. Mint can't attack and that stupid old man is off in his fantasy world again."

"OK." Arche replied cheerfully for this gave her another chance to demonstrate her magical prowess.

"Let's see…hmmm…what should I cast?" She began listing spell off her fingers, evidently taking her sweet time.

"Arche…" Chester warned menacingly.

"Oh alright," Arche pouted, "Ray!"

Several beam of light descended onto Asras in the battle field below. Asras, now devoid of energy reverted back to Ruca and fell onto the ground, out cold.

"You cheated!" Sheena exclaimed.

"It's not like you didn't," Arche replied, sticking out her tongue, "Believe us, we saw your previous battles."

"You will keep everything you saw quiet…" the little girl commanded monotonously, still keeping her knife against Sheena's throat, "I would hate to kill…my own family…"


	8. Chapter 8

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Phantasia, the characters, stories, and everything about them in any way. They are property of Namco.

* * *

**Past Versus Present**

Sheena hung her head, defeated, as she was led away from the stadium. Never in her life had she failed so horribly. She was discovered and caught! It was simply unforgivable. _What should I do? _She thought as she followed her enemies: the archer (Chester), witch (Arche), and the little girl (who, surprisingly, was dressed very much like a ninja). Thousand of thoughts crossed her mind but none so profoundly as such:

_What did you mean by kin?_ Sheena thought, _I don't even know her!_

"H-Hey! What do—," Sheena began

"Silence!" the little ninja interjected coldly. Sheena held her tongue.

* * *

"Where the heck is Sheena?" Lloyd shouted exasperatedly, "Our match with Team Phantasia is about to start and…"

"Don't worry Lloyd," Zelos replied, "She's not even battling."

"Zelos!" Lloyd fumed, "You know perfectly well that's not the case!"

"I'm sure she'll be fine Lloyd," Colette said timidly, "She's a ninja right? She should be…umm…unharmed." There was a hint of doubt in her voice, but Lloyd didn't catch it.

"Yeah, I guess so," Lloyd said, scratching the back of his head, "Let's go then! Zelos? Raine? Are you two ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be I suppose," said Raine, who secretly hope that none of the team members will pass out again. She didn't like the idea of fighting a one-man battle (or one-women in this case). No. It is far better to have Lloyd and Zelos to take the blow while she remains at the back, safe and unharmed.

* * *

"NOW! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS IS THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!" the commentator announced to the cheering stadium.

"ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE TEAM SYMPHONIA: THE SUICIDE: LLOYD, THE NOISY NARCISSIST: ZELOS, AAND THE SPANKING MANIC: RAINE!" Here the commentator paused to let his words sink in. Then he continued,

"VERSUS TEAM PHANTASIA ON THE RIGHT: THE HEROIC SWORDMAN: CLESS, COMPASSIONATE CLERIC: MINT, AAND THE BIG PERVERT: KLARTH!"

"I'm a suicide?" Lloyd spoke incredulously, "Since when did I become—"

"That's because you're always dying," explained Raine, who seemed more put out than Lloyd, "BUT ME! The Spanking Manic!? What a lie! I do not believe in violence and I certainly AM NOT a manic!"

"Speak for yourself…" Lloyd mumbled.

"That commentator needs to be taught a lesson!" Raine continued, now off on a tangent, "I do well believe a nice, long spanking would set him right!"

"Oh don't complain!" Zelos fumed. Then he turned to Lloyd, "It's not like you got a reputation to keep. ME? NOISY? When am I ever noisy? And I am definitely NOT a narcissist."

"Well…you _are _umm…pretty loud sometimes…" Lloyd said, "But definitely not noisy…you just a have umm…talkative mouth?" Lloyd was doing his best to console Zelos, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"So now there's a problem with my mouth is there?" Zelos face started to red with indignation, "DON'T YOU DARE CRITIZE ME! My mouth is excellent! See those bright teeth? And that goes for the rest of my face! See my nose? The perfect size! And there is…"

Lloyd shook his head as he watched Zelos went on a rampage about the perfection of his facial features. There seemed to be no end to Zelos's yapping.

"Why did I ever sign up for this?" he asked himself.

Meanwhile, Team Phantasia was smiling at the commentator's every words—everyone except for Klarth that is.

"Hey I'm heroic!" said Cless excitedly, "Funny, I'm just doing what I believe is right."

"And I'm compassionate?" Mint blushed, "Ahh, they're far too generous with their words."

"PERVERT! That is so unfair!" Klarth shouted, "There are plenty of other guys who are perverts, why just me? Huh?" However, his voice was drowned by that of the commentator, who cried,

"AND LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

Lloyd and Cless were the first to rush into the fray.

"Sword Rain, Tiger Rage, Tempest Beast!" Lloyd cried. Cless, who did not expect such an elaborate combo, was knocked off his feet and right into the stadium wall.

"Now time to get that guy with the ugly hat!" Lloyd announced as he charged straight at Klarth.

"It's not ugly! It's brilliant!" Klarth arguing as he started running away from Lloyd, "And don't follow me!"

"You can't run from me!" Lloyd cried, "Demon Fang!" While Zelos, coincidently cried,

"Air Thrust!"

A bright blue shockwave struck Klarth on his heels as he fell over in pain. At the same time, gushes of wind slashed Klarth on all sides.

"Lightning Tiger Blade!" Cless appeared suddenly, striking Lloyd hard on the head. Lloyd, surprised, fell, but still retained consciousness.

"And the final strike! Swallow Dance!" Cless yelled.

"Oh no you don't!" Zelos suddenly spoke up, "DIVINE JUDGEMENT!"

Arrows of light fell from the sky above Cless, bursting upon impact.

"Haha! In your face, losers!" Zelos taunted jubilantly, "You mess with the great Zelos, you get a face full of—"

Something fell hard on Zelos's head—Mint's Pow Hammer.

"Ummm…hammer?" Mint finished the sentence timidly. She had be aiming at Raine, but had hit Zelos instead due to being blinded from Zelos's Divine Judgment.

"H-How could you…" Zelos stammered, an expression of shock written over his face, "You're supposed to love me, not attack me! All girls love me! This is impossible!!"

"Lunge!" a voice cried out of nowhere.

Suddenly Cless appear in front Zelos, swinging his sword wildly in quick and deadly slashes.

"Why you!" Zelos doubled back from pain, "Light Spear Cannon!" But Cless had disappeared.

"The hell!" Zelos cried, "How?"

"The power of Eternal Sword," Cless replied simply.

"Eternal Sword huh? Well, get a taste of this! FALCON CREST!" Lloyd had recovered from his earlier blow to his head.

"DARK SWORD!" Cless countered. The two clashed swords in mid-air, Lloyd coming form the top and Cless from the bottom. Bright white-blue light erupted from their sword as the two are blown across the arena in opposite directions.

"Time—" Mint began her deadly spell. However, she was interrupted by Raine, who cried,

"Fairy Circle!" Dazzling green light flooded the stadium as emerald butterflies made of light circled the enemies, showering magic dusts as they flapped their wings. Then in a flash, Mint was sprawled out on the ground, her body in award positions, unconscious.

"MINT!" Cless cried, glaring at Raine "Damn you! Lunge!"

"Oh no you don't! Demon Fang, Super Lightning Blade," Zelos cried. His Demon Fang managed to reach Cless, but Cless was determined to see his attack to the end. Cless disappeared and reappeared right in front of the frightened Raine.

"Don't you dare hit me!" Raine warned, "Or you can look forward to a good long spanking!"

"Try me," Cless smirked and raised his sword, "You're dead!"

Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning landed directly on Cless who stumbled back, surprised.

"W-What? How?" he gasped.

"I dunno. Glitch?" Zelos replied as Cless fainted. [Note: This is a glitch in the actual game (At least in the Gamecube version)]

"You haven't won yet!" Klarth suddenly cried out, "Chameleon!"

A gigantic green monster stuck out its head from the clouds above in the sky. Slowly, it began to unroll its tongue, its large bulging black eyes narrowing in on the targets below.

"HAHAHA! DEVOUR THEM!" Klarth cried manically. The green monster obeyed. Without a warning, it lashed out its tongue straight at Zelos.

"NOOOO!" Zelos cried as he positioned himself behind Lloyd, "Don't eat me! I still got five more hunnies to date and sleep with tonight! Eat Lloyd instead!"

"WHAT!" Lloyd cried, "Get away from me! He wants to eat you, not me!"

"Damn him! No wonder I'm not getting any girls, he's taken them all!" Klarth muttered. Angrily, he shouted, "GET HIM CHAMELEON! SUCK THAT RED HAIR BASTARD'S GUTS OUT!!"

"Holy Lance!" Raine cried suddenly, her Quick Spell EX Skill in effect.

Blinding light shaped like lances pierced through Klarth in all direction as Klarth shouted in surprise and pain, loosing concentration on his summon. Chameleon's tongue stopped moving, and with a questioning glance at Klarth, retreated back above the heaven.

"No…don't leave…Ugh…" Klarth winced, as he fell onto the ground, knocked out from the pain.

"AAAND TEAM SYMPHONIA WINS!" the commentator announced, "TEAM SYMPHONIA SHALL BE RECEIVING THE ONE MILLION GALD! THAT'S IT FOR TODAY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. BE SURE TO COME BACK FOR FURTHER AWESOME MATCHES TOMORROW. UNTIL THEN, GOODBYE!"


	9. Chapter 9

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Phantasia, the characters, stories, and everything about them in any way. They are property of Namco.

**

* * *

Ninja War**

"We won! We won! We won!" Genis and Zelos chanted as the team made their way back to their break room.

"Lloyd…you have redeemed yourself…" Presea silently praised the twin swordsman.

"It's all here!" Lloyd laughed, patting his pocket that kept the prize money.

"Yes!" Regal agreed, "Let's treat ourselves at the Altamira resort tonight."

"You're so great Lloyd!" Colette said proudly.

"Ahahaha, it was nothing," Lloyd laughed nervously, "Zelos and Raine did most of the work anyways."

"Of course, if it wasn't for me, we would have lost the first match!" Raine replied nonchalantly.

"Professor…but Lloyd did a lot too right?" Colette insisted, "I mean…he was the one taking all the blows and—."

"Dying," Raine finished in a superior tone, "Very heroic, I don't deny that, but exceptionally foolish and useless. Humph! How utterly unreliable! Attacking without thinking! Complete lack of awareness for the consequences!"

"I-I…" Lloyd was speechless. He had expected Raine to say _Oh no! Lloyd's the hero_ or something along that line, but never to criticize him!

"Mark my words girls!" Raine addressed Colette and Presea, "Don't ever fall for this kind of man. He'll just end up dying early and leaving you with a mountain of debt."

"Understood…" Presea reflected.

"By the way," Regal spoke amidst Genis and Zelos's chanting, "Where is Sheena?"

"Hmm, I'm starting to get worried as well," Raine agreed, "She went out to gather information and haven't returned since."

"I hope nothing bad—" Colette began. But suddenly seven figures appeared in a blinding flash. One of them, a swordsman, Cless, was holding the Eternal Sword. Evidently, they had just teleported.

"Your friend is with us," Cless replied silently, revealing Sheena, who was gagged, and bound with thick ropes.

"We won! We won! We won! You lost! You lost! You lost! Haha suckers!" Genis and Zelos chanted upon seeing Team Phantasia.

"Genis! Zelos! Don't enrage them!" Raine warned. Her voice was urgent and her staff was raised.

"What do you guys want?" Lloyd demanded drawing his blades, "Return our friend!"

"Relax," a tiny ninja in red appeared amongst Team Phantasia, "We meant no harm. I shall release your friend immediately."

The red ninja drew out a small knife. And in one swift move, Sheena's ropes were cut. Sheena, shamefaced and terrified, backed quickly away from Team Phantasia.

"Now that we've returned your friend, will you be civil enough to put away your weapons?" Klarth replied, slightly annoyed by Genis and Zelos's chanting, "And would the two idiots over there put a sock in it!"

"Let us talk in the break room," Chester said, where we won't be overheard.

* * *

"YOU GUYS ARE WHAT?!" All of Team Symphonia exclaimed when Team Phantasia had elaborated on all the mystery surrounding them. They are in the break room, all seated in a circle.

"Yes, we are from the future," Mint confirmed

"A-And Suzu?" Sheena asked tentatively.

"I am your descendent, Suzu Fujibayashi," Suzu answered monotonously.

"We used the power of the Eternal Sword to travel here," Klarth said, "That's why we are also in possession of an Eternal Sword."

"B-But Why?" Genis blurted out.

"Well…when we got here, we found out that there is a competition held here, so we decided to enter and test our skills," Cless said.

"That's not true," Arche muttered under her breath, "You know perfectly why! You lost all our money buying all those useless junk that we never used!" Chester nudged Arche hard on the ribs.

"It's Arche's fault," Chester explained, "She was tempering with the sword and somehow teleported us all here."

"Hey!" Arche cried indignantly, "If it weren't for you eating my late night cookies, I wouldn't have needed going back in time to get them back!"

"You! Don't blame others for your mistakes," Chester retorted.

"Cookie stealer!"

"I can't believe you used the sword just to get back some cookies…" Chester shook his head, "What an idiot!"

"Stop saying cookies! You're making me hungry…" Arche groaned, "It's all your fault!"

"Would you like me to bake you some cookies?" Raine offered, her eyes lighting up, "I know! We can make them together!"

"Yeah! Sure!" Arche agreed enthusiastically, "Let's start baking right now!"

"Ummm, Raine…I don't think this is a good idea…" Genis began.

"Oh no, you will not Arche!" Chester exclaimed urgently, "I absolutely forbid you to cook! Everything you touch turns into poison!"

"Don't look down at me!" Raine announced, grinning manically, "All the spices and foods! Just imagine the different combinations!"

"Don't get all high and mighty just because you have some inborn talents," Arche waved a threatening finger at Chester, "Mint has been teaching me culinary arts and I daresay my skill surpasses that of yours."

"It's useless to stop them…" Klarth observed.

"Ah well, I'll go out and buy some life bottles…" Sheena sighed as she prepared to vaporize into smoke.

"Wait!" the tiny red ninja suddenly spoke up, "As your descendent, Suzu Fujibayashi, I request a battle with you!"

"Me!" Sheena said, surprised.

"Yes," Suzu replied silently, "I wish to test my strength against the person our people had revered as a legendary hero of our ninja clan."

"I-I-I…" Sheena stuttered, "Alright! I accept your challenge!"

"Let us begin" Suzu said coldly, and without a word, she disappeared, only to reappear above Sheena, her daggers raised.

"Crow Blade!" Suzu cried as she dove down.

"Guardian Seal!" Green light burst forth and enveloped Sheena, protecting her from Suzu's daggers.

"My turn!" Sheena cried as she took out her cards, "Demon Seal!" Her move struck the unexpected Suzu hard on the back blasting the little ninja away in a display of blackish red light. However, Suzu caught herself in midair and did a back somersault.

"Merciless Thunder!" Suzu shouted as she threw a sword at Sheena's feet. Lightning burst forth from the sky and connected with the sword.

"Ahh!" Sheena cried as the force blew her back.

"Flare Blitz!" Suzu didn't let up, "Flare Blitz! Flare Blitz!"

Countless fireballs flew towards Sheena, who could only pull her arms up to protect her face.

"Hell Rush!" Suzu landed and immediately charged forward, not giving Sheena a chance to retaliate.

_Ha! Here's my chance!_ Sheena thought.

"Cyclone Seal!" Sheena cried. Green light encircled the attacking red ninja.

"Gah!" Suzu clenched her jaws as the light bore her up into the sky, converged in a blinding flash, and disappeared, leaving Suzu falling down to the ground.

"Life Seal!" Sheena cried, striking the red ninja as she fell, "AAND Pyre Seal!"

Before Suzu could register what had happened, she was blown across the ground by a tremendous force and landed in a heap. Yet, she stood up almost immediately, her face still emotionless.

"Keh…looks like I'm fighting a robot…" Sheena complained, "She definitely does not have the cheerful side of my genes…"

"Mirror Image!" Suzu cried. The little ninja split into two identical copies and charged at Sheena.

"Hey! That's not fair! I can't do that!" Sheena cried as now two red ninjas came slashing at her.

"Serpent Seal Pinion!" Sheena shouted throwing two spell cards in attempt to slow down the two targets. Her attack worked, but the two ninjas quickly jumped back.

"Not a chance!" the two ninja converged back into one, "Omega Tempest!"

Suzu slashed at Sheena again; this time with the power of wind in her blade. But Sheena was ready.

Right at that moment, Sheena's body started emitting a dark aura—overlimit mode!

"I call upon the maiden of the mist…." Sheena recited, taking Suzu's blow without flinching.

"I summon Jiraiya!" Suzu cried, doing her best to interrupt Sheena's summon. A gigantic yellow frog fell down from the sky.

"Attack!" Suzu commanded as the frog began breathing fire at Sheena.

"Humph! Your puny frog won't be a match against my summon!" Sheena boasted, "I summon thee! Undine!"

The sky darkened as a woman with long purplish blue hair appear beside Sheena—the spirit Undine! Undine raised one of her hands as geysers erupted from the ground, extinguishing Jiraiya's flames and striking Suzu.

"Damn!" Suzu breathed as a gigantic column of water burst forth from below her.

The steam from the extinguished fire covered the entire battle field as both Team Symphonia and Phantasia waited with baited breath as to who will come out victorious.

"Haha! I won!" Sheena cried out amidst the fog.

"Y-You…haven't…won…yet…" Suzu huffed, out of breath and tired, "Hell Rush!" Suzu charged forward. However, she was slower this time, due to fatigue and the excessive damages taken.

"Demon Seal!" Sheena cried, dodging with ease and striking Suzu squarely on the chest. Suzu, caught of guard, was blown back 50 feet.

"Crow Blade!" Suzu didn't let up. However, her movements, again, were slow. Sheena dodged the little ninja gracefully and unleashed yet another Demon Seal on Suzu.

"I summon Jiraiya!" Suzu announced as the gigantic yellow frog materialized again.

Yet again, the attack did not reach Suzu as Sheena vaporized into a cloud of smoke and reappeared behind Suzu.

"Mirage Seal Pinion! Pyre Seal!" Sheena cried, taking advantage of the opening. Suzu was blast forward like a rag doll.

"You're getting slower," Sheena teased, a look of utmost superiority on her face.

"H-How?" Suzu demanded, a look of shock on her face, "How are you able to dodge so effortlessly when we have been fighting for so long?"

"Undine," Sheena answered simply, "She healed me before she disappeared."

"I…see…" Suzu replied silently, "…very well, I forfeit the match…"

"What?!" Sheena said, astounded.

"At this rate, I cannot win," Suzu answered expressionlessly, "You win…"

Sheena tried to say something to console Suzu. But she whatever she had meant to say was drown by Zelos and Genis's irksome chanting.

"WE WON! WE WON! YOU LOST! YOU LOST!" the two screamed at the top of their lungs.

"Suzu!" Mint cried as she rushed forward, "Let me heal you!"

"Wait!" Arche said suddenly, "Suzu come with me for a sec."

"Um ok…" Suzu obliged.

"Oh no!" Chester exclaimed suddenly, "I know that look, that deranged, mad face you're making. You're up to something! Something no good no doubt. It's written all over your face!"

"Shut up! And leave us alone!" Arche retorted. Then she turned to Suzu and smiled wickedly, "I have something to discuss with you."


	10. Chapter 10

Comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Phantasia, the characters, stories, and everything about them in any way. They are property of Namco.

**

* * *

Cookies**

"Now Genis, look what I made!" Raine smiled sweetly as she presented a plate of cookies in front of Genis, "Don't be shy. Help yourself. You'll be the first to taste my delicious cookies!"

"More like the last…" Genis mumbled. He kept his mouth clamped shut.

Team Symphonia and Team Phantasia were sitting in the break room as Arche and Raine came waltzing in with their plate of cookies.

"Come on Cless," Arche said warmly, singling out the only person on her team that is always just too nice to refuse.

"Try some," Arche insisted, "Raine just taught me some new techniques! I'm sure my cookies will be delicious this time."

"Arche I don't—," Cless began, but Arche didn't bother to hear him out. Instead she picked up a cookie and stuffed it forcefully into Cless's mouth.

"Genis! I tried a completely new approach to cooking!" Raine said, exasperated, egging Genis to take a bite.

"Really?!" Genis sounded hopeful.

"Yes!" Raine replied enthusiastically, "This will be a new break through! A new discovery!"

"And that's what I'm afraid of…" Genis shoulder sagged once again, but Raine was losing her temper.

"Look Genis!" she threatened, smiling tensely, "If you don't want your bottom spanked until its iron red hot, you better eat this cookie and SAY THAT IT'S DELICIOUS!" She looked so dangerous with a maniacal grin on her face that Genis reluctantly took a cookie.

"Lloyd, Colette, Regal?" Raine smiled, offering the plate to the three people beside Genis, who could only accept with grim faces. Facing them were Mint, Klarth, and Suzu, who didn't really seem to know what to do as they stared from the cookies in their hands to Cless's gagging green face.

"Chester," Arche approached the archer, determined to block Cless out of his view, "Have a cookie."

"No."

"Why?" Arche was indignant

"Because I want to live, thank you," Chester replied nonchalantly.

"I tried a new recipe," Arche said, ignoring Chester's previous comment.

"Anything you make is horrible…" Chester grumbled.

"How would you know?!" Arche seethed angrily, "You didn't even taste it!"

"Just look at the shape…" Chester replied staring disgustedly at the amorphous cookies on the platter.

"Appearance's not everything!" Arche argued, holding a cookie beside Chester's mouth "It's the taste that counts."

"Whatever, I'm not eating it!" Chester said defiantly.

"Yes you will!"

"No I won't!"

"Oh, then I'll make you!" with that, Arche lunged at Chester and persisted in holding him down while stuffing the entire cookie into his mouth.

"Get away from me!" Chester squirmed free and began to distance himself from Arche, "You mad witch…"

"YOU JERK!" Arche shouted after the now running Chester, "Get back here! Lightning!"

A single bolt of lightning shot straight down on Chester, who stumbled upon impact.

"Fire Ball!" Arche didn't let up as she cast again (these rudimentary spell allow her to spend little time casting).

"Ice Fang!" Chester countered with an icy arrow, "Stop that! You idiot!"

But that only got Arch even angrier as she began charging up a stronger spell.

"Eruption!" She cried as the ground under Chester began turning into lava.

"Hahaha!" she laughed, "Eat my cookies or else!"

"Not a chance!" Chester was uncooperative, "Your cooking will kill me anyways."

"Go boil to death, jerk!" Arche shouted, "Fire Storm!"

"Tidal wave!" Genis suddenly cried out as he dispelled all of Arche's fire magic.

"I'll help you Chester," Genis said, "I don't want to eat my sister's cooking either…"

"Genis! You are in so much trouble when this is all over!" Raine said, stepping into the fray, "Arche, let's team up!"

"Gladly!" the witch replied, as she began mounting her broom.

"Sonic Bash!" Chester cried, shooting an arrow into the ground and causing rocks and dirt to fly high into the air, bashing the two chefs.

"Photon!" Raine shouted, catching Genis in a cage of blinding light.

"Giga Fang!" Chester announced, releasing a gigantic arrow at Raine, who had to call of the spell to run away.

"Indignation!" Arche screamed as bright blue electric ball circled above Genis and Chester.

"Two can play that game! Indignation!" Genis cried as the ground beneath Arche and Raine glowed dangerously white.

The sky darkened, as two bolts of lightning erupted forth and struck everyone in the fray.

"Gah! Hell Pyre!" Chester panted, the first to recover as he notched an arrow.

"Field Barrier!" Raine cast. Crystal-like blue aura surrounded the two chefs, rendering Chester's fiery attack useless.

"Thunder Blade!" Arche cried, being the second to recover. However, in her haste, she missed entirely.

"Aim first, then attack!" Raine instructed Arche, "Healing Circle!" The ground beneath the two girls turned sparkling blue.

"Ahhh~," Arche heaved a sighed; "This feel sooo good!"

"Hey! No fair! We can't heal!" Chester complained.

"Well too bad! Should have thought of that earlier before taking us on huh?" Arche huffed proudly.

"Ground Dasher!" Genis cried, taking advantage while Arche is still on the ground.

"Ahh!" Both Raine and Arche cried out as one took to the air and the other ran off to the side, leaving their healing zone.

"Ahahaha!" Chester laughed uncontrollably at the sight of Arche and Raine's frantic faces.

"Eat this!" Arche shrieked. She was high in the air, her arms high, casting, "Judgment!" She brought her hands down as pounding air descended onto Chester and Genis

"Give up!" Raine cried, "RAY!"

"EAT MY COOKIES! RAY!" Arche joined in as numerous beams of light went pelting in all directions around Genis and Chester.

"Force Field!" Genis cried to protect himself. Chester however, wasn't so lucky. Not knowing any defensive techniques, he took the attacks full on.

"Why you ditz!" Chester seethed, losing his temper completely, "Take this! Wild Rain!"

He shot several arrows high up into the air.

"You missed idiot!" Arche laughed.

"Acuteness!" Raine cried, to increase hers and Arche's attack, "Ready for more pain?"

But just then, the arrows from Chester's Wild Rain, aided by gravity, came pelting down on Arche and Raine.

"Ahahaha! Who's the idiot now huh?" Chester taunted, and then turning to Genis he said, "Now!"

"Gravity Well!" Genis cried, furthering increasing the force of the gravity, not only causing Arche and Raine to fall onto the ground, but to accelerate the falling arrows.

"Hahaha! This is it! Dragon Slayer!" Chester released a single arrow, surrounded by bright pink aura.

"Sorry sis, but this is for revenge on Arche…Meteor Storm!" Genis announced as gigantic rocks from outer space crashed onto the two chefs.

Dust rose from the barrages of Genis's Meteor Storm. For a moment, nothing can be seen. But as the dust cleared away, the battered bodies of the two chefs appeared. They were knocked out.

"YES! WE WON!" Genis and Chester cheered, patting each other on the back.

"No more cookies!" Chester cheered, pumping one arm into the air.

"AHA! In your face, witch! Who's the better mage now? Huh?" Genis taunted, all jumpy with excitement.

The rest of Team Symphonia and Phantasia watched silently dumbstruck. Nobody said anything until Mint opened her mouth.

"Well…we should start by healing the two," Mint replied, point at Raine and Arche.

"What? Are you kidding me?" Sheena interrupted, "It's best to just leave them like this. With them knocked out, we don't have to eat these disgusting cookies anymore."


	11. Chapter 11

Comments are appreciated! (Sorry I haven't been on this for years! )

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Phantasia, the characters, stories, and everything about them in any way. They are property of Namco.

**Parting**

"Well…I guess this is goodbye…" Cless said as he extended a hand out to Lloyd.

"Yeah," Lloyd reply, "We'll miss you guys."

"Come visit us sometime," Sheena invited, "I'll be looking forward to another match with you, Suzu."

"Yes," Suzu bowed.

"Don't blow up the world ok? Genis?" taunted Arche, "Of course, if you do that, your sister would sure give you a big smack on the bottom!"

Genis opened his mouth to argue, but upon seeing Raine's stern glare, he closed his mouth again, his face bright red.

"Arche!" Mint said, exasperated.

"Foul mouth as ever huh?" Chester breathed.

"What! You want a fight?" Arche steamed.

"Sure! If you're ready to be beat up again," Chester smirked, readying his bow, "I'll take you on anytime!"

"Ha! That's only when you have Genis backing you up! Coward!" Arche countered.

"You—" Chester began.

"Children!" Klarth interjected as he forcefully separate the heated two, "Please!"

"We best get going…" Cless clear his throat, embarrassed by his teammates' childishness, "Farewell." He raised his Eternal Sword.

"Hey, don't forget _that_!" Arche whispered to Suzu.

"…Very well…" Suzu whispered back reluctantly

"Goodbye!" Team Symphonia waved as Team Phantasia becomes incased in a blinding ball of light.

"Secret Theft!" Suzu muttered, her eyes focused intently at Lloyd. In a instant she disappear, only to reappear back at her original spot again.

"Perfect!" Arche breathed, a look of glee on her face.

"We'll miss you!" Team Phantasia, including Arche with a lopsided smile and Suzu with her head hung in shame, replied.

"Make us an awesome world alright?" Klarth shouted as the white light engulfed them.

"Yeah!" Lloyd smiled as Team Phantasia disappeared in a flash.

The entire team was silent as they stare up at the brilliant violet sky of which belongs to Derris Kharlan.

"Sighs, I would really like to spend more time with my descendent…" Sheena mumbled.

"AND I WOULD LIKE TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH THAT MINT CHICK!" Zelos exclaimed.

"Idiot Chosen!" Sheena smacked Zelos at the back of his head.

"Oh! Could it be?" Zelos exclaimed, exaggerated in his speech.

"What?" Sheena snapped, losing patience.

"That you're jealous?" Zelos smirked.

"DIE!" Sheena whipped out her spell cards and began dishing them out at Zelos.

"First to shut you up!" Sheena announced as a white spell card with an X mark flew and attached itself right over Zelos' mouth, "Then for some pain!"

Zelos ran. Sheena chased after him.

"Lloyd! Now that we won the cash prize for the tournament, let's treat ourselves to a day at Altermia!" Genis shouted.

"Yes, a break now and then would definitely help us relieve some stress and prepare for our final battle against Mithos," Raine agreed.

"Lloyd! Let's go to the beach! We haven't gone for so long now!" Colette proposed, her eyes shining.

"Sure, sure!" Lloyd grinned, reaching into his pocket for the cash prize, "Maybe Professor Raine should hold on to it so I don't lose it again."

"Gladly," Raine accepted the offer, holding out her hand.

"Hang on…" Lloyd said, feeling his pocket, "Hang on…maybe I put it in my left pocket…"

The rest of the group looked at Lloyd expectantly.

"Wait…" Lloyd said, trying hard not to panic as he searched, but to no avail.

"It's not here…" he finally confessed.

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted.

"It's not here," Lloyd repeated, laughing dryly and scratching his head, "Oops, clumsy me…must have lost it…heheheh."

"What do you mean it's not here!" Sheena, who failed to catch Zelos, was the first to lose her temper completely.

"Oh Lloyd! You didn't!" Colette said, shaking her head.

"Oh dear…" Regal sighed.

"Lloyd…how could you…" Presea stared, hurt.

"STUPID STUPID STUPID LLOYD!" Genis exclaimed.

"%#$" came the muffled voice of Zelos' who still had Sheena's spell card taped over his mouth.

"Lloyd, turn around…" Rain instructed, "I'm going to beat the concept of money management into your head if it is the last thing I do."


End file.
